The invention relates to a motor vehicle with at least one vehicle seat on which a child seat can be fastened, including a device for deactivating an airbag located in front of the vehicle seat when occupied by the child seat.
This application claims the priority of German patent application 196 06 140.7 filed on Feb. 20, 1996, and German patent application 196 28 763.4 filed on Jul. 17, 1996, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
In a system of the general type referred to above and described in German patent document DE 42 43 826 A1, the vehicle seat has seat belt buckles located on both sides of the seat cushion in the area between the seat back fittings and the seat back, into which buckles matching catches of a child seat can be inserted. The buckles are therefore provided with a sensor that reacts to the fastening of the child seat to deactivate the airbag. With this system the corresponding airbag is therefore deactivated at the same time as the child seat is attached to the vehicle seat.
This system suffers from the disadvantage that retrofitting is only feasible with difficulty at affordable expense in existing standard vehicles, since special fittings such as catches, seat belt buckles or the like must be provided on the child seat as well as on the vehicle seat.
An object of the invention is to provide a device for deactivating an airbag located in front in a vehicle with at least one vehicle seat and a child seat placed thereon, said device being capable of being retrofitted simply and economically even in existing standard vehicles.
This goal is achieved according to the invention by providing an arrangement wherein an additional tongue and interengageable buckle carried by the child seat and vehicle are provided for triggering control of an airbag actuating circuit such that the airbag is deactivated when the tongue is inserted in the buckle and the airbag is reactivated when the tongue is not engaged in the buckle.
In especially preferred embodiments the tongue is carried by the child seat and the buckle is on a strap connected to the vehicle seat/vehicle.
Primary advantages achieved with the invention consist in the fact that the device, composed of an additional tongue on the child seat and a buckle that is in active communication with the central triggering unit, has a simple design to deactivate the airbag and can be retrofitted at low expense in standard vehicles.
The airbag is not deactivated until the tongue is inserted manually into the buckle, and it is reactivated when the tongue and buckle are disconnected. In preferred embodiments, the additional tongue and buckle connection does not serve to secure the child seat to the vehicle seat. In preferred embodiments, the tongue and buckle for deactivating the airbag have dimensions different from those of the tongue and buckle of the seat belt system for the vehicle seat, so that improper connections are prevented.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.